SARSAT's False Alarms

Aviation and maritime officials were elated when the U.S. last March launched a weather satellite carrying a search-and-rescue, or SARSAT, system. The satellite, working in a rare cooperative venture with two Soviet SARSATS, automatically picked up distress signals from downed aircraft and foundering ships and relayed them back to earth. The SOSs gave searchers quick navigational fixes so that help could be sent promptly to the accident sites. Rescue agencies are now discovering that there can be too much of a good thing: false alarms are flooding the SARSAT system.

In a single day, during their 18 passes over the U.S., the SARSATS pick up an average of 80 erroneous distress signals. On weekends, say officials at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, which coordinates military and civilian rescue operations in the U.S., the number of bogus S O Ss rises to 100 or more. Deputy Assistant Air Force Secretary Lloyd Mosemann calls these counterfeit calls for help "a national disgrace" that "is strangling a very worthwhile program." Indeed, it is currently the only joint U.S.-Soviet space effort.

Most of the false alarms are due to what the Air Force tactfully calls "mismanagement" by pilots of the nation's 200,000 general-aviation aircraft, among them planes operated by business and recreational flyers. In some cases, they test their electronic beacons, known as ELTs (emergency locator transmitters), to see if they are working properly, and then forget to turn them off. These devices, required by law, automatically start broadcasting on standard international frequencies after a sharp impact like a crash. When spurious NASA signals deluge the air waves, rescuers are overwhelmed. They must track down every alarm. Says Mosemann: "Suppose your local fire station received your call and the fire chief has to ask a policeman to drive by your house and verify the problem. Ridiculous, isn't it?"

The Air Force, joined by NASA, the Coast Guard and the FAA held a conference early this month to discuss ways of reducing the epidemic of SOS calls. Still, even irritated officials concede that on rare occasions the false alarms can lead to pay dirt. Earlier this year, rescuers followed satellite-relayed signals to a farm in the Southeast. The officials found a helicopter hidden in a haystack and loaded with marijuana.

The ship's beacon had accidentally gone off. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.